Reuben Owen: Life in the Dales returns to screens this Tuesday (5 May) as the 22-year-old farmer lifts the lid once again on his working life in the Yorkshire countryside. Now in its third season, the series continues to follow the young farmer as he expands his groundwork and plant hire business, marking a clear shift from his earlier TV appearances alongside his parents in Our Yorkshire Farm.
The new season opens up at the height of summer, with Reuben and his team taking on an ambitious new project: building a sheep pen for a local farmer. While Reuben focuses on large-scale groundwork, his younger brothers, Miles and Sid, are carving out their own path by enrolling in an intensive sheep shearing course and working towards the Blue Seal Shearer certificate.
Elsewhere, the series also spends time with Reuben’s girlfriend Jess, offering a look at own farming routine. Jess works alongside her father David on their own family-run Brough Castle farm, where they manage a sizeable operation that includes hundreds of sheep and cattle, as well as dairy production. As summer approaches, Jess and her family face the annual challenge of shearing their flock.
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Jess’ presence in the series has steadily grown, and with it, interest in her relationship with Reuben. The pair share a similar upbringing, both having grown up immersed in farming from a young age. Jess remains deeply involved in her family’s farm and documents aspects of her day-to-day life on social media, where she has built a modest following.
Reuben and Jess’ relationship became public in late 2024, after the pair met at a Young Farmers’ convention that same year. Since then, they’ve been inseparable and have become increasingly visible online by sharing glimpses into their work and life together. Jess has also appeared alongside Reuben on various jobs seen on screens.
Recent months have seen the couple navigating one of the busiest times in the farming calendar – lambing season. But they’ve also found time to enjoy quieter moments, including a hot air balloon ride over the lush Yorkshire countryside, which came as a rare break from their demanding schedules.
Their connection also has deeper roots. Reuben previously shared that their families had crossed paths long before he ever met Jess. Speaking to The Mirror, he said: “Jess’ grandad used to raise hundreds of turkeys for Christmas every year, and when I was a boy my dad would come to the farm to buy the biggest one for our Christmas dinner.”
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Still, their early days didn’t go entirely smoothly. Reuben admitted that he initially struggled to pluck up the courage to ask Jess out, and when he finally did, their first outing came with a hitch. “It took me a while to ask her out, I wasn’t that brave but I just asked her one night,” Reuben said to OK! Magazine (via Edinburgh Live). “We went out for some tea one night and I’d lost my wallet and she had to pay for my dinner!”
Looking ahead, the couple appear settled, with hints that they could take their relationship to the next level. They’ve previously discussed the possibility of using a barn on Jess’ family farm as a future wedding venue. “We’ve talked about using it as a wedding venue, but I couldn’t possibly say if there will be a ring under the tree for Jess this year,” Reuben said in November 2025.
For now, their focus remains on work – and on the quieter additions to their life as a couple. The pair recently moved in together and took in an injured lamb named Fluff. “When Fluff was born, her mum accidentally stood on her leg and it broke. So, we’ve taken her in and she’s going to be our pet sheep now – she’ll live with us forever. She’s even been in the house, sleeping on a blanket,” Jess said to The Mirror.
Reuben Owen: Life in the Dales airs on Channel 5 this Tuesday at 8pm.
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